September Goal Updates

So clearly my goal for October should be that I PUBLISH OCTOBER’S POST IN OCTOBER. Anywho…on with the show!

Be More Organized

Something happened during September that made me puff up like a proud bird. One of PDFMU’s Super Important People saw my planner and all my notes and highlighting and was like “OMG you MUST teach me your system!!”. So I got to sit down and tell this Super Important Person all about how I make my to do lists and how I stay organized. Pretty neat, huh?

I also re-did the binders in my office. When I started working, I created all these awesome binders to help me keep track of my staff members and duty logs and all that other fun stuff. Well, part way through the year, I stopped using them. They weren’t working for me. During a rare minute of free time (meaning a meeting that a student didn’t show up for) I completely cleaned them out and put new tabs in them based on the things I keep track of. Much better.

Read More

Shortly after last month’s post, I marched down to the library with my Kindle and found out how I could read library books on it. Which means I’ve been reading more. I’ve tried to make it a routine to read before going to bed, but in honor of One Tree Hill’s 10th anniversary, I decided to re-watch the entire series, which unfortunately has been happening before bed. But really, I need to get my act together and watch TV while I’m cleaning and doing dishes and read while I’m in bed.

Schedule More Me Time

If you missed out on my return from the abyss, I’ll fill you in on the state of my me time: it doesn’t exist. I am doing work stuff outside of work hours and that’s not okay. I’m not the only one doing it, my whole office is and we’re all about to burn out. So what am I going to do differently for October? Well, I already have some time off scheduled for a big vacation. I even added a day on each end of the vacation itself for packing and unpacking. I’m also going to calm it down with the emails. If I don’t get around to it before I leave my office for the day, I’m not going to go home and do it that night. This is student affairs, urgent things come up all the time – even at night – so I’m sure a delayed email here or there won’t be the end of the world.

Keep In Touch

In September, I had the luxury of returning to my hometown TWICE. The second time, I left my laptop in my office so I COULDN’T do work from home. Granted, the second time I was also home less than twenty four hours. I got to catch up with a few of my home friends on both trips, which was nice.

Since Rachel lives closer, I’ve been chatting on the phone more with her. I might be visiting her on Sunday! Not sure yet though…I have gone back to her apartment one other time as well for a visit in which we celebrated the return of pumpkin EVERYTHING to the supermarkets.

Be A Grown Up

What are some grown up things I did in September? I bought a bridesmaid dress. I renewed my insurance. I willingly went to sleep and woke up early.

Actually, one thing that’s been making me feel more grown up is that I’ve missed ALL of Undergrad U’s events so far this semester. Like, I was never the type to return for EVERYLITTLETHING but I’ve missed some major ones for my sorority. Yes, this has happened before, but I’ve always felt terrible about it…not so much missing the event, but not being able to see my friends that were still students. Now, I look at sorority pictures and I’m like, “Wow, I know NOBODY.” Instead, I’ve been making plans to see sorority sisters at other events and other locations.

I know last month I was hoping for a more productive month…this month I’m hoping for a much calmer month!

What I DIDN’T Do On My Summer Vacation

I cannot believe that summer is over. It seems like just a few weeks ago I was making my summer to do list and thinking of all the time I would have to do things since I wouldn’t have students popping in every few minutes. Boy, was I wrong!

Some student affairs professionals have ten month contracts meaning that they don’t work during the summer. While a two month vacation sounds lovely, I kind of collected student loans like Beanie Babies and I need every cent I can get.

Unfortunately, unlike Beanie Babies, my student loans ARE worth tons of money.

I really thought that I’d have time to get all this stuff done. Most of the things on my to do list were things I wanted to do…I wasn’t taking departmental things into consideration because I had never done any of that stuff before. Next year when I’m planning for summer I will definitely know better!

So what was on my to do list?

To Do: Clean My Office

I really wanted to re-organize EVERYTHING and make my office look brand new by the time the RAs returned for training. I had all of these grand plans. My office was going to look like something off of Pinterest.

What Got Done

I did move old files into a filing cabinet to make room for things from this year. I also went through the mountain of papers on my desk…only for a new mountain to start growing. I’ll take care of it during Christmas Break.

To Do: Update The Website

I wish updating my department’s website was more like this…I could log on whenever and update it myself. But that’s not how it works. I have to send whatever changes I want to make to this IT person and he has to do it. There were some sections of our site that were in DESPERATE need of an update and I decided I would do that this summer.

What Got Done

I passed it off to a new employee. She needs to meet people in a different department, so IT’s a great place to start, right?

To Do: A Bulletin Board In Each Building

I wanted to do a bulletin board in each of my building’s entryways. I thought it would give the RAs a good example and be visually pleasing for all of our lovely summer residents. I saw so many cute bulletin board ideas on Pinterest and in the teacher supply store.

What Got Done:

I bought cute bulletin board supplies…that’s about as far as I got.

 

So what am I going to do next summer? STAY OFF PINTEREST!! Pinterest just gives me wonderful ideas that I don’t have the time or creativity to follow through with. I’m also going to put departmental things on my to do list (like planning RA training and training the new hires) and give those items timelines so I can fit my own tasks in more realistically. Did you do everything you wanted to this summer?

August Goal Updates

Ugh…do I even HAVE to do one for August? Everybody in Student Affairs knows that ResLifers don’t get an August. We have July and then September and in between is this weird black hole time warp called RA Training and Opening. August is no place for goals.

Be More Organized

My apartment looks like a disaster zone. So does my car. But you know what DOES look organized? My office. My boss made a deal with us “grown ups” that we didn’t have to be at every single training presentation – as long as we were in the office working on things. I definitely had things to work on, but I also used some of that time to clean my office. I’m glad I did it before the year started!!

I managed to get my blog back on track and it looks like I’m about to have my most successful month EVER. If I find myself with a bit of free times, I write posts or post ideas on my iPad. When I have a larger chunk of time, I edit and schedule posts. Sometimes this means I’m working on posts MONTHS before they go up. It also means starting this post halfway through the month…

And of course, now I’m posting this in basically mid-September, so surprise surprise, my posting when COMPLETELY off track again. I’ll blame the freshmen. Always blame the freshmen.

Read More

I have not read a book this month. You know what I have read? Emails. Lots of emails. Emails from RAs. Emails from residents. Emails from parents. That counts, OKAY?

Schedule More Me Time

I don’t even know what this is at the moment. Like, I’m beyond excited when I get back to my apartment before 9 pm.

Keep In Touch

I have several friends with birthdays in August and I tried my best to get them all hand written cards in time for their birthdays. Some of them wound up with hand written emails instead. Sorry.

Even with the madness, I did get a few visits in! Right before the madness started, I made sure to visit Rachel and see her new apartment. It has a balcony. I’m jealous. Rachel also made her way over to my apartment and another one of our friends from home was with her!! I only had about twelve hours to spend with them, but we had a super girly sleepover and went to a twenty four hour diner…it was like being back in high school again!

Be A Grown Up

Earlier this month I went to the mall with a friend. We were in Victoria’s Secret and we wandered over to the Pink side. We both stopped, looked around, and realized that we were too old to wear most of the things we saw on that side.

I can’t.

Another instance of feeling grown up OLD was when Rachael and Elizabeth came to visit…we had this LOVELY idea to go to a bar and dance cause that’s what people our age do, right? But after one drink I was EXHAUSTED. I was also hungry and I’m not a fun person to be around when hungry. So that’s where the diner and sleepover came in.

Okay, so since I always associate being “grown up” with being “old”, I have another one! I’ve been commuting. But Author, doesn’t everybody like HATE commuting? Nope! See, us student affairs professionals have to live ON CAMPUS. We don’t get to leave work. Before RA training started, I made it a point to get in my car at the end of the work day and DRIVE SOMEWHERE. Well, not just randomly drive around but to one friend or another friend’s house. There was even a few Wine Wednesdays where I’d sleepover a friend’s house and drive to work in the morning! I actually like being in my car…can’t answer emails, can’t worry about work stuff. I just get to drive and sing along to Disney songs in the car.

Here’s to September being a much more productive month!

New Planner Day

It’s NEW PLANNER DAY Y’ALLLLL!!!

Awhile back I wrote about my favorite planners. I’m still using the Russell + Hazel planner I bought earlier this year and I am just as obsessed with it…actually I’m more obsessed with it now that my 2013 – 2014 calendar pages arrived. I felt like a little kid on Christmas opening the package. I actually blocked time off on my calendar so I could load in the new pages and other goodies and write everything on them!

I’m a total sucker for organization and organizational products and I probably put more effort into making my to do lists and keeping my planner organized than I did for all of my grad school papers combined. I actually have had a few friends reach out to me and ask me to help them organize their lives…whether it’s a to do list, long term project, or create a study plan. I would LOVE to someday make organizing my job…but I don’t know…I feel like I’d be called out for being a fraud when the inside of my car and my kitchen look like they do.

Since the Russell + Hazel planners don’t have TOO much structure, people constantly ask me how I organize my planner. Below is a list of what I have and what I use it for.

Mini Binder

This is the binder that holds it all! I LOVE the bright lime color! This binder is about the size of the Lilly Pulitzer agendas that everybody and their mother uses these days. It’s the perfect size to fit into a purse if you’re the sort of person that brings your planner everywhere. I can just fit a year’s worth of stuff into it…but since it’s a binder I can always add and remove things.

Mini Paper Pockets

I actually just bought these the other day. The one thing I really missed from my other planners (my Quo Vadis and my Lilly Pulitzer) were the pockets! I ten to use them for stamps, stickers, and maybe an important piece of mail. I didn’t put all of them into my binder, as they are rather thick, but I am using them as section dividers.

Month Tabs

These month tabs make finding everything so easy! It’s a full on calendar but also provides you with a place for notes. Since I work at a college, I was eagerly awaiting the 2013 – 2014 tabs to be released so I could start writing down important dates for next year.

Weekly Planner Sheets

I put these behind each month tab. I actually only put them in for one or two months at a time…I don’t need to know what my week looks like for a week six months from now. That’s what my Google Calendar is for! My one gripe with the weekly pages is that they don’t have all of the hours and they don’t have the half hour marks. I believe the daily sheets have more, but I want to be able to look at my week at a glance. Once nice thing is that the reverse side is a page for notes. You can use this for a to do list for the following week or really anything…I tend to leave these blank. Oops.

Mini Filler Paper

This is your typical loose leaf binder paper, except it fits in the Mini Binder. I keep some in my binder for notes and I also use these sheets for making my epic to do lists. I will then put it with the current week page.

Even when I was younger, I was obsessed with going school supply shopping. I am completely okay that I have not grown out of that!!

Ackkkk…just saw that Carly from College Prepster just wrote about planners!! Yikes! I swear I didn’t copy her…I received my package at the beginning of this week and promptly wrote my post. I guess it’s true what they say…great minds think alike!

June Goal Updates

This month has been the complete opposite of May! One day it was June first and the next the month was half over! Come on, summer, hang around a bit longer…

Be More Organized

Lately, I’ve been letting things slide. I’m in the middle of working on a ton of crafts for the upcoming Birthday Season and there are paints and brushes and half-finished things everywhere. Also, there’s a growing pile of dirty laundry in my bathroom. It should be in the hamper. But at the end of the day, I’m just so tired that I want to crawl into bed and do nothing more. I need to take ten minutes before bedtime and just use that time to straighten up a bit.

Also, I need to clean out my closet again. I went a little overboard during my shopping trip earlier this month and it’s getting to the point where it’s hard to move things around in there. In my current apartment, I’m blessed with closest space and I’ve come to the realization that I’m screwed when I move somewhere else. My first year at Grad School State, I had this huge apartment all to myself but I only brought what could fit in my car. I wound up spending the year buying things to fill the space…only to move to a much smaller apartment the following year. I think I’m doing that but with clothes.

I have a real fear of being a hoarder later in life because I have such a hard time parting with things. Like, seriously, I’m just one traumatic event from winding up on TLC. In my mind, the more I force myself to clean and part ways with junk, the easier it will become.

Read More

I know that when it rains, people say that it’s the perfect time to cuddle up with a good book. It doesn’t work that way for me. When it rains, I want to cuddle up with Netflix. And it rained A LOT this month. It didn’t help that season four of Arrested Development was released Memorial Day weekend…I had a lot of TV watching to do!

The thing is, I’d much rather read outside! If I’m inside, I could be playing video games, watching TLC, or maybe even cleaning my apartment. Outside, there’s only so many times I can refresh Instagram. I bought a Nook a few years ago for the sole purpose of reading outside, but unfortunately it broke. I do have an iPad with a Nook app, but with the glossy screen it is kind of difficult to read outside.

The books that I have been reading (unfortunately haven’t finished any yet) have been a lot of the novels I loved when I was in middle school. Basically, I raided my own book collection at my parents’ house. Also, The Baby Sitters Club TV show is now on Netflix. I never saw the show as a kid, but I was OBSESSED with the books. I’ll save that for my next rainy day!

Schedule More Me Time

At some point I realized that I had a lot of time off stored up. I guess it’s because I haven’t taken a major vacation – just a few days here and there. PDFM U has a “if you don’t use it, you lose it” policy about vacation time, so I decided to take some time off when my friends came to visit for the Lilly sale.

I also want to take some time off before RA training starts. Once the RAs arrive, we go all day every day until after move in. It’s rough. My friends from Undergrad U have been trying to plan a trip (see below) and some of my friends that I’ve made here have talked about doing a long weekend at the beach.

Keep In Touch

Just like I don’t like reading indoors, I don’t like talking on the phone indoors. My mom used to yell at me growing up for pacing around the house while talking on the phone. Apparently my walking drove her crazy. Why couldn’t I sit still and talk on the phone? It was a good day for both of us when my dad brought home a cordless phone that I could use in the backyard. Anywho! On the days it hasn’t been raining, I’ve been heading outside to chat with my friends while walking around the block. I figure it kills two birds with one stone – exercise and communication.

As I mentioned earlier, my friends are attempting to plan a vacation for next month. Normally, the girls do the bulk of the planning and the guys just show up, but for some reason this year the guys decided to take control. That’s cool…except the weekend we blocked off is two weeks away and we don’t even have a location. Oof. I’m sure they’ll pull it off…and I’m really excited for it. Even if it means we’re just hanging in somebody’s basement for the weekend.

I recently went to visit one of my friends from Grad School State who accepted a new position and will be heading out west this weekend. We arranged to have brunch at a little place in between the cities we currently live in and then did some shopping. I’m sad to see her go, but super excited for the next chapter in her life!

Be a Grown Up

I wrote a whole post earlier this month on the idea of feeling like a grown up and how I usually associated it with negative things. Just the other day I remembered another time I felt like a grown up. My second year at Undergrad U, my friends and I held a cook out. People brought different dishes and we had appetizers and stuff on the grill and desserts. It felt like all the cook outs I had been to with my family growing up. There was definitely drinking at this cookout, but I don’t remember anybody getting wasted or playing any drinking games. It was a classy affair.

Earlier this month I went to another cook out. There were drinking games at this one, which was fine by me. I’m starting to realize you just have to re-frame what’s “fun” as a grown up. I look forward to putting events with friends on the calendar, even if they aren’t “parties”.

And in the more boring aspect of grown up life, I’m still paying off those student loans. I’m constantly looking for “better” ways to pay them back. Author, wouldn’t that just be paying more?  Well, yes, but that’s not what I meant. I’m paying much more than my minimum payment and it’s about as much as I can pay per month without resorting to eating ramen noodles for every meal. BUT I am researching things about consolidation and which loans I should try to pay back first. I know absolutely nothing about student loans. I just signed away! Maybe high schools should offer a “College Prep” class that teaches you about financial aid and loans and all that jazz.

I’m also still afraid of the dentist. Next month I tell myself, next month.

2013 Goal Updates – April

Be More Organized

I think I need to use my calendar more. I know I’m already a calendar/planner FREAK, but this past month I managed to fall behind on some projects. Not cool. However, I did have this random day where I went on a cleaning spree and completely re-organized one closet AND found items to donate. I’m actually really eager for students to leave so I have time to really tackle my office.

Read More

I think the only reading I have done this month is my inbox which always seems to be bursting at the seams with new messages. Seriously. If I have fifteen free minutes at work, I go through and sort my emails only for five more to come rolling in. The end of the year is approaching FAST and my students are getting antsy. “There’s a vacant space in my room for next year, are you going to assign someone to it?” (Yes.) “Can I leave my things in my apartment for the summer?” (No.) “Is it too late to apply to be an RA for next year?” (Dies.) I’d like to say I plan on doing more reading next month…but the new season of Arrested Development is getting posted on Netflix at the end of the month…so honestly, I might spend a good chunk of time re-watching seasons one, two, and three. Oops. I’m not even sorry.

Schedule More Me Time

About that…While I definitely set aside some time for non-work-related things, they were also things that NEEDED to get done. I want to do things like spoil myself with a pedicure or a massage but those things cost MONEY and I really haven’t had that much lately. Maybe I’ll do those things after the students move out to reward myself for surviving year one.

Keep In Touch

This month I did manage to travel and see some friends! I took one trip to Grad School State and another trip home. When I was home, I had dinner with my (recently engaged!) best friend. After dinner, we chatted about her wedding…she’s done so much planning! She has a date, a venue, colors, a dress…she just needs bridesmaids…and that’s where I come in! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have my first bridesmaid gig. Now let’s just hope I don’t become that chick from “27 Dresses” any time soon…

Be a Grown Up

The most grown up thing I did this month was pay my taxes. A whopping $45. Woooo. I also paid one doctor’s bill and I need to pay another. Actually! I’m planning a big vacation, but I think I’m going to do a separate post about that. It seems kind of grown up. Other than those things (notice they all require money), I’ve felt like a frustrated toddler this month. Ugh.

Hopefully my life will get back on track next month. Just as I get this school year routine down, it’s back to summer. Sigh.

2013 Goal Updates – March

The downfall of me planning most of my posts ahead of time is that I start writing my “Goal Updates” post mid-month but really can’t do much since I can’t tell you all about things that haven’t yet. Then I forget about it until…oh…the day I intended on posting it. Sigh.

Be More Organized

Well, nothing says “We like you and want to keep you” quite like giving you a ton more responsibility, right? After spring break, I returned to this HUGE stack of mail in my inbox with all these new tasks that are assigned to me. I spent a week staring at the papers before deciding that I needed to come up with a system for them first. So far, so good.

I did a major spring cleaning of my bathroom. I know earlier this year I completely reorganized it, but for this cleaning I actually scrubbed the tub, sink, and toilet, I mopped the floor, shook out the rug…it’s all nice and shiny in there now!

I may very soon have a major change in my living arrangements (and that’s all I’ll say about it for now!) but because of that I am planning some rearranging. Unfortunately I think that might require taking some furniture apart because I’m pretty sure it won’t fit through my door.

Read More

I went on a trip earlier this month and downloaded a TON of samples on my Nook. I get a little mad when a sample has only 17 pages…with most of them being acknowledgements, chapter listings, etc. I did actually buy one of the books – “Sorority Sisters” by Claudia Welch. I enjoyed reading it and I think it’s something any female reader with a close group of friends can understand…not just those in a sorority. The one thing that stinks is books are EXPENSIVE. I think I’m either going to have to go back to Goodwill to look for books or try and find a library.

Schedule More Me Time

You know you’re getting to a point where your work life and your personal life are so entwined that you’re inviting your friends to college events for a night out. I have found other things to keep me busy in my new city, but work has been so busy with late night events that I haven’t really had much me time…good thing I enjoy work! I also seem to finally have a group of friends. Some have “normal” 9 to 5 jobs, others have crazy retail hours, and then there’s me. Ha!

Keep in Touch

This month has been soooo busy! I’ve traveled twice this month and I have one more trip coming up this weekend. Even though I didn’t travel to see my friends, I wound up being in touch with them more than a normal month because they’d comment on my Facebook pictures and we’d wind up chatting all night about where I was and what I was doing. I also did get to see my Big which was wonderful. She hasn’t visited me in my new city yet so hopefully we will find time for that in the next few months. It’s difficult because I don’t plan my weekends until I know what weekends I’m on call.

Be a Grown Up

I rented a car for the second time in my life. That seems like a grown up thing to do. I also found all the documents in order to do my taxes, but I still haven’t done them. Of course, that’s all negated by the fact I was pouty about not day drinking on St. Paddy’s. Oops.

In April, I plan on finishing a book that I haven’t read in forever and finishing a major non-work related project. Woo!

A Review of Planners

For as long as I can remember, I have used a planner. I’ve had several types over the years and I’ve found that the amount I use the planner doesn’t relate to how much I have to do, but how much I like the planner. I could have tons and tons to do but if the planner doesn’t work well for me, I won’t write things in it. Below I’ve listed the three favorite planners I’ve had.

Quo Vadis

I used the daily planner back when I had tons to do and I was always on the go. It was small enough to shove in even a purse but had enough space to make to do lists. I also liked that you could buy refills so you could keep the same cover. I decorated my cover with stickers, so it was unique to me! The one thing I didn’t like was that it did not have a monthly calendar style page anywhere in it. That would have been helpful when planning future events, although with as much as I was doing, I don’t think I was planning very far into the future. Also, something that bothered me was that it went by calendar year, not academic year. I was a student when I used this planner and I still work in a school setting, so an academic year planner is more useful for me.

Lilly Pulitzer

Once I started working full time, I needed something that showed the months. Being in a sorority must have rubbed off on me because I bought a Lilly Pulitzer planner. I bought the large one which was slightly taller than my Quo Vadis planner. Just to put it in perspective, the jumbo is the size of a normal notebook. I loved how it was set up with the months breaking up the weekly pages. I also enjoyed all the fun, colorful stickers. I didn’t like that there wasn’t enough space for me to write down my appointments and a to do list. Also, there’s a lot of other stuff in the planner that I didn’t need, like an address book. It got to the point where I used the Lilly planner just to write down appointments and a separate notepad to keep a running to do list.

Russell + Hazel

While I was in undergrad, a friend introduced me to Russel + Hazel. She got all her binders from there and her stuff looked so organized. I had always looked at reviews of their Smartdate system, but it was so expensive. I finally decided to buy it as a reward for my first big girl job…also I already get confused for a student, I might has well have a more grown-up looking planner than them. The thing that drew me to this system was that you can customize it for whatever you need – the paper comes in little packs that you can put in a binder. I chose the mini binder and it’s about the same size as my Lilly planner was. I bought monthly tabs, weekly pages, and filler paper for to do lists. I can put it in whatever order I want!! There are some things I don’t like…the boxes on the monthly calendar aren’t as large as my old one and on the weekly pages, I thought the appointment slots would be by half hour for some reason, so I have to make some adjustments.

Electronic?

Honestly, I haven’t found any sort of online planner that I absolutely love. I enjoy being able to cross something off my to do list and to color code and stick funny stickers on things. For just a straight up calendar, I do enjoy Gmail, but as I use Outlook more and more for work, I am starting to like that as well. The other day, I whipped out my planner at the doctor’s office and got some funny looks…I just most people just input stuff into their phones these days.

What planners do you use? How do you organize your to do lists?

2013 Goal Updates – January

So back at the not-so-beginning of the month, I posted some goals for 2013. I know most people are pretty good at sticking to their resolutions for at least the first month, but I usually never even made it that far. This makes me rather proud of the things that I have done so far.

Be More Organized

While I haven’t gone through my clothes yes (ugh, dreading that task), I did make some major progress on the kitchen and the bathroom. I completely reorganized my kitchen cabinets. I know that sounds unnecessary, but I was sick of climbing my counter to reach things I actually use while having things I haven’t touched in months fall into a sink full of dirty dishes. Unfortunately during this process, I found duplicates of things like spices and canned food. A similar thing happened when I cleaned out my bathroom closet. I found extras of conditioner, deodorant, and other toiletries. I have WAYYY too many travel sized lotions. I also bought new storage bins for the bathroom closet so all those small bottles would have a place to live.

Read More

I did say that I wanted to do a book a month and I stuck to that. Unfortunately it means that I’ve only read one book this month – “The Carrie Diaries” by Candace Bushnell. The a TV series based on this book (and its sequel that I just discovered the existence of) recently started, taking the place of my Monday night fave, Gossip Girl. Keep an eye out for an entry about that. For next month, I plan on finishing two books that I started reading last summer. Not making any promises though – February’s a short month!

Schedule More Me Time

I took an entire weekend to clean my apartment and organize the bathroom and kitchen. Unfortunately, I have not been taking this approach with work and I’ve actually fallen behind on some projects.

Keep In Touch

I’ve officially made savings accounts for two of the trips I want to take this year. I mentioned my big trip to Disney for later in the year, but I’ve also planned some smaller trips as well. I did get to see one of my out-of-town friends at the beginning of the month and we are making plans for me to visit her after I survive formal recruitment. Another friend posted that her travels next month are going to take her pretty close to the city I live in, so I’m trying to make plans with her.

Be a Grown Up

Well, I registered my car. That meant I needed to also purchase insurance and get it inspected. Such grown up things. I mentioned earlier that I started more savings accounts and I am really trying to watch my budget.

Have you stuck to any resolutions or goals you’ve set?

2013 Goals

Yes, yes, I know, 2013 started a week ago. So much for that “no more procrastinating” goal I was going to mention…but seriously, better late than never, right?

I’ve never sat down and thought about New Year’s Resolutions before. Yeah, everybody at some point in their life says that they’re going to lose weight and eat healthy and be a better person, but by February they’re back to being their over-indulgent sloppy selves (I’ve never seen so many people running in my town as I did when I was driving to brunch on New Year’s Day). Been there, done that. This is the first year in a LONG time that I don’t have school deadlines being a priority in my life, so I’ve decided to make some rather broad goals.

Be More Organized

Yes, I am a rather organized person. I pride myself on that. However, up until now my organization has been mainly with creating systems and calendars that work for me. I can find a file on my computer in no time. Finding a matching set of socks in my room…that’s another story. One thing I want to do is go through my clothes and get rid of things that just don’t fit or are out of style. I have a TON of event t-shirts from college and grad school so I’ve been tossing the idea of making a t-shirt quilt (or pay someone to make it for me). It’s one thing for me to clean my apartment…it’s another to have it stay cleaned and organized! The same goes for my office and my car.

Read More

When I first started this blog, I had a huge list of books I wanted to read and write about. Then I’m not sure what happened, I probably got distracted by something shiny. While a book a week sounds a little too ambitious, a book a month sounds like a great way to get started. Now to pick a book for this month…any suggestions?

Schedule More Me Time

I guess this can go with the top two…about halfway through the semester I realized that the only time I was ever going to get through my inbox was to literally schedule “email time” using Outlook and close my door so students couldn’t come in. In order to organize my apartment, I’m going to need to write it down on a calendar, not just wait until I have a free minute. I also need to learn to become okay with taking me time. Sometimes I just don’t feel like going out when invited and then one of two things will happen – I’ll either go out and be miserable thinking about all the stuff I could be doing at home OR I’ll stay home and then feel bad for having let somebody down.

Keep in Touch

Now more than ever my friends are scattered around the country. Everybody is working and keeping busy which is great because it means my friends are finally starting to understand the concept of planning ahead. One of my friends from my sorority and I are talking about planning a real vacation together (we want to go to Disney) for the fall and I want to start looking into that (flights, hotels, tickets, etc) so we can save up and hopefully make reservations and go! On a smaller scale, I would like to try to see at least one out of town friend each month. I think I’ll start this month with a friend who only lives two hours away…possibly a day trip!

Be a Grown Up

I’m not talking about being responsible or boring…but there are some regular grown up things that I’ve been putting off…like re-registering my car and scheduling my regular dentist appointment (terrifying). I’ve gotten pretty good at paying my bills on time and even did a good job at keeping a budget until Christmas hit. This year I want to review my budget and maybe add a few things to start saving towards (like the previously mentioned vacation).

What are some of your goals or resolutions for this year?